Love Sneaks In
by snorkack
Summary: Amy and Sirius never really talked to each other, even though they're in the same year and house at Hogwarts. However, as they get to know each other, they develop a close friendship that eventually turns into more than either of them had expected. SBOC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was almost 2 in the morning, and I was sitting in the Gryffindor common room by the fire, trying to finish my Transfiguration essay. I was the only one in the room, and I was becoming more and more tired and finding it incredibly hard to concentrate on what I was doing. _I really need to stop procrastinating so much, _I thought to myself as I added a few more sentences. I wish I was more like my best friend, Vesper, who was up in the dormitory sleeping right now because she had already finished her Transfiguration essay. My other best friend, Cynthia, wasn't even taking Transfiguration, because she had only received an A on her O.W.L., which hadn't been enough for her to continue on to N.E.W.T. level. Sighing as I wished I was also up in the dormitory sleeping, I finished up the paragraph I was writing, and moved on to the conclusion.

All of a sudden, the portrait hole swung open and I jumped, not expecting anyone to be coming in at this hour. Turning around to see who it was, I watched as two boys climbed through the portrait hole into the common room, but as soon as I saw who they were, I wasn't surprised at all. It was James Potter and Sirius Black, two of the most well-known students in the entire school. They were notorious for being troublemakers, but at the same time, for entertaining people and having many admirers. Although they were both sixth years, in the same year as I was, I had never talked much to either of them.

"We were lucky that time, Padfoot," said James to Sirius. "He was about a foot away from running into us, but thanks to yours truly, we got away."

"Yeah, that was a close one," Sirius agreed.

Losing interest in the conversation, I turned back to my Transfiguration essay, hoping I could finish the conclusion as quickly as possible, so maybe I'd be able to get at least four or five hours of sleep.

"Hey."

I jumped, realizing that Sirius was now standing next to the couch. I hadn't noticed him come over.

He laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," I said, and turned back to my essay. I was faintly aware of the fact that I might have seemed rude, but I was too tired to care.

He came over and sat down on the couch next to me. "What are you doing?"

"Transfiguration essay."

"Need any help?"

"No thanks, I'm already on the conclusion," I said, surprised that he had offered.

"Oh, all right," he said.

Assuming the conversation was over, I turned again to my essay, writing what I hoped was a halfway decent conclusion, and gathered my stuff together to bring upstairs.

"You're Amy Sutton, right?" I turned around and realized Sirius was still sitting there.

"Yeah."

"I don't think we've ever really talked before. I'm Sirius Black, even though you probably already know that." He laughed.

"Yeah," I said again, feeling stupid for not being able to say anything else, and slightly annoyed that this conversation was taking place at a time when all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

"Well, I guess I'd better go up to bed. You probably should too, it's getting late," he said."

"Yeah," I answered. _There I go with the "Yeahs" again._

"Goodnight," he said. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah…" _STOP SAYING YEAH! _"Goodnight."

I walked up to the dormitory and put my things away, got ready for bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning in the Great Hall, I could barely stay awake. Covering my mouth as I yawned, I struggled to keep my eyes from closing, not wanting to fall asleep and wind up with my head in my breakfast.

"What time did you go to sleep last night, Amy?" Cynthia asked me from across the table. She brushed a strand of her long, straight, silky blonde hair out of her face as she reached for a corn muffin.

Yawning yet again, I shrugged. "Sometime after 2," I said.

"Amy…you really should try to get to sleep earlier," said Vesper, who was sitting to the left of me. "You don't want to end up falling asleep in class, you're barely staying awake now as it is."

"What are you talking about, I'm…" Another yawn caused me to stop talking in mid-sentence. "…fine," I finished, as she looked at me pointedly. "Okay, so I'm tired, but I had to get my essay done. Would you rather have me get in trouble and possibly lose us House points just for the sake of getting a good night's sleep?" I asked.

She sighed. "No…but you really should try to get your work done earlier."

"You take way too many classes," Cynthia broke in. "If you didn't have so many, you wouldn't have to stay up late all alone in the common room when normal people are sleeping."

Vesper raised her eyebrows. "_Normal_ people? What are you trying to imply there?"

"You know what I meant," returned Cynthia. "Most people are sleeping at 2 in the morning."

"Actually, I wasn't the only one in the common room last night," I said.

"What do you know, I guess there are other crazy people who stay up late to finish their work," Vesper said to Cynthia.

"That's not what I meant!" Cynthia said in exasperation. "You were the one saying that Amy should go to sleep earlier, I was just agreeing with you!"

"Yeah, but you should be encouraging her to go to sleep earlier, not to drop a class," Vesper replied. "Anyway, who else was there?" she asked me, before Cynthia could say anything else.

"Sirius Black and James Potter came in when I was almost done," I said.

"Ooh, did they say anything to you?" Cynthia inquired, her face lit up with interest.

Vesper rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they probably didn't even notice her. Their egos are so inflated that it'd probably kill them to notice something other than themselves."

"Actually, Sirius did talk to me," I cut in, hoping to prevent another pointless argument from breaking out between them.

"Oh my god, what did he say? Tell us everything!" squealed Cynthia excitedly. Even Vesper looked somewhat interested.

"Nothing really," I said. "He just asked what I was doing, and I told him I was doing my essay, and then he asked if I wanted any help-"

"He actually offered you help?" asked Vesper skeptically. Vesper was not a big fan of either James or Sirius. She thought they were too arrogant and that they wasted their time doing stupid things to try to entertain themselves and everyone else.

"Let her finish!" Cynthia said in a reproachful tone.

"Yeah, he did, but I was almost done. Then he just asked me if I was Amy Sutton, and said that we'd never really talked before."

"It figures he wouldn't even know your name," Vesper said derisively.

"I'm sure he knows, he was just being polite!" Cynthia responded.

Vesper snorted. "I find it hard to believe Sirius Black would do anything just for the sake of being polite."

"Oh, and of course offering to help Amy with her essay was absolutely rude," retorted Cynthia. To me, she asked, "Did he say anything else?"

"Not really, he just said he was going up to bed, and that I should too, and he said goodnight."

"Well, at least he has some sense in saying that you should've been sleeping," Vesper said.

"Why do you have such a problem with him, Vesper? What did he ever do to you?" Cynthia questioned her.

"He hasn't done anything to me," began Vesper.

"Well, then why do you hate them so much?" Cynthia asked.

"It's not just about me, Cynthia! I just hate how he and Potter are so full of themselves. They act like they own the whole bloody school and they expect everyone to worship them, and laugh at the stupid things they do that aren't even funny. Not to mention Potter's always going after Lily. He actually expects her to go out with him when he's always showing off and picking on other people! They think they're so damn brilliant when they're really no better than anyone else." Vesper's face flushed. It wasn't often that she had open displays like these of frustration and irritation, and when she did, she always felt embarrassed afterwards for letting herself get so worked up about something.

"I know they might do stupid things at times, Vesper, but they're teenage boys! You can't expect them to be perfectly mature and well-behaved," Cynthia said in a careful tone.

"Yeah, they can't be all that bad," I agreed, "especially since they're friends with Remus." Remus Lupin was another Gryffindor sixth year boy, who was good friends with both James and Sirius, and I knew Vesper fancied him, although she had never openly admitted it.

I knew my argument had been somewhat convincing when Vesper sighed defeatedly. "Maybe they aren't _complete_ jerks, but I still can't stand all the stupid things they do to try to make themselves look good."

"Just give them a chance," I said. "Who knows, maybe they'll start to mature."

At that moment, a pancake went flying through the air. Following the direction of its flight, I watched as it hit a thin, dark-haired Slytherin boy in the face, who's name I knew to be Severus Snape. Snape pulled the pancake off his face in irritation, glaring in the direction of the laughter that had just erupted from a group of students. Turning in the direction of the laughter, I saw that at the center of the group were Sirius Black and James Potter. Sirius and James high-fived and James stood up and took a bow. "No need to thank me, I did it for the good of the people," he said, as the people around him laughed.

"You were just saying?" Vesper said, her tone filled with contempt. I cringed.

"Oh, come on, Vesper, I thought it was kind of funny…" Cynthia said, trailing off at the almost cold expression on Vesper's face.

"Funny?!" she exclaimed. "No, Cynthia. This isn't funny. Deliberately throwing things at specific people just for the sake of humiliating them is not funny. And I don't care what Sirius said to you last night, Amy, but people who expect to be admired for hitting people in the face with a pancake don't have my respect." She got up and picked up her bag, flinging it over her shoulder. "I'm going to go find Lily," she said. "At least she has the sense to realize when people are immature jerks without an ounce of sense in their heads." With that being said, she walked away, leaving me and Cynthia looking after her and then at each other, unsure of what to do.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I walked into my first period class, Transfiguration, and sat down, taking out a quill and paper, and the essay that had kept me up so late. I almost wished I still had History of Magic, because as much as I had hated that class (and the P I got on my O.W.L. exam proved it), it would have given me a chance to catch up on some sleep.

As Vesper walked in, I was about to call her over, but then I realized that she might have still been in a bad mood, which was confirmed when she didn't even look at me, but took a seat at the front of the class. Lily, another sixth year Gryffindor girl, took the seat next to her. Lily was definitely one of the smartest girls in our year, if not the smartest. She was close friends with Vesper, who admired her for being not only intelligent and talented, but for being kind and friendly as well. Like Vesper, she was not amused by James and Sirius, thinking that they were both conceited and that all the times they spent trying to show off their skills was unimpressive and stupid. In addition, it was common knowledge that James liked Lily, since he made numerous attempts to get her to go out with him, and this irritated her to no end. I often heard Lily ranting to Vesper about them, especially James, in frustration, and I wondered if Lily's opinions had influenced Vesper at all and deepened her dislike of James and Sirius.

"Hey." I snapped out of my thoughts and saw that Sirius was standing right in front of my desk. It took me a few seconds before realizing it was me he was talking to.

"Hey," I responded. I wasn't really sure what else to say, but then a voice from the back of the class called out, "Padfoot! Get over here!" Turning around, I saw that it was James calling him over.

"So, I guess I'll talk to you later then?" Sirius asked, as he walked to the back of the classroom to join his friend.

"Yeah…" I said, even though I was pretty sure he didn't hear me. _There I go with the Yeah thing again, _I thought.

Today's Transfiguration lesson was all note-taking. Usually I hate those types of lessons, because for me, taking down notes and listening to teachers talk all period is just boring. I mean, I know it's important to understand the concepts behind certain spells before you put them into practice, but I can't help wanting to skip straight to the part where we actually start using the spells. When we practice the spells, however, we almost always work in groups, and since I'm not friends with anyone in our class except for Vesper, I knew it would be awkward for me, whether I worked with Vesper when she was still mad, or if I had to work with someone I barely knew.

It seemed like an eternity later when class finally ended. I was glad to go to Potions next, because Cynthia was also in that class with me, so even if Vesper was still mad, at least I'd have someone to talk to. As I entered the dungeon, I walked over to our usual table and sat down. Cynthia was already there.

"Is she still mad?" Cynthia asked me, knowing that I had had class with her the period before.

"I think so," I said. "She didn't sit with me last period." At that moment, Vesper and Lily walked in together. I was relieved that she took her usual seat next to me, and Lily sat across from her, but I was even more relieved when she spoke. "Hey, guys."

"Hey…I'm sorry if we pissed you off earlier," I said, not wanting to make a big deal about what had happened, but not wanting to ignore it without making sure that she wasn't mad anymore.

"Yeah, we didn't mean anything," said Cynthia, who was obviously also unsure of what to say.

"It's okay, guys," Vesper said. "I shouldn't have gone off at you guys like that. I was just annoyed that I was actually going to consider the possibility that they might have changed, and then they go and do something stupid. I shouldn't have yelled at either of you. It's not your fault they're immature gits."

"Speak of the devil," muttered Lily, as James and Sirius walked into the room, laughing, and they sat down at another table, followed by Remus and Peter.

Vesper sighed. "I still don't see why Remus hangs out with those two. He's so much nicer than either of them."

"Hey, Evans!" James yelled to Lily from his table. Lily just glared at him.

"Come on, Evans, why won't you talk to me?" he persisted.

Before Lily could come up with a response, Professor Slughorn, our Potions teacher, walked in. "Good morning, everyone!" he said cheerfully, his loud voice ringing throughout the classroom. "Lily, always good to see you," he said to her, smiling as he passed our table to get to the front of the room. Slughorn wasn't a bad guy, but he had a habit of playing favorites and always making it obvious who his favorite students were. Not only was he nicer to them during class, but he even had a sort of "club" which all of them were part of. I didn't know much about this club, not being one of his favorites, but I'd heard that their "meetings" were usually parties, where Slughorn would introduce them to one of the many people he had connections to, whether it was Quidditch players or Ministry of Magic officials.

Slughorn waved his wand and the instructions and ingredients needed for the potion we were making today appeared on the board. "Get to work, everyone!" he said.

I went over to the storage cupboard to get the ingredients for the potion. Turning around to go back to my seat, I was startled to see Sirius right behind me.

"Hey again," he said.

"Hey," I replied, feeling suddenly awkward and not understanding why. Not sure what else to say or do, I returned back to my table with the ingredients and began working on the potion.

The rest of the period went by in a blur. The potion we were making was pretty complicated, so I didn't really talk to anyone because I was too busy trying to make sure that I added the correct amount of each ingredient and that I was stirring the contents correctly. I wasn't really sure how well mine was turning out, but at the end of class when we brought up sample flasks of our potions to Slughorn, I saw that mine was pretty similar-looking to Lily's, which was relieving, since she was the best at Potions in our class.

"We have Charms next, right?" Cynthia asked us, as we walked toward the door so we could leave the dungeon.

"Yeah," I said.

"We didn't have any written homework, right?" she asked, her expression suddenly panicked.

"No, we just had to practice-AHHHH!" I screamed involuntarily, my Potions book flying out of my hands as I fell over a chair that I hadn't noticed while I was walking.

"Are you okay?" Vesper asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. I got up and went over to get my Potions book, but someone else had already gotten to it first, and I realized it was Sirius as he handed it back to me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, feeling my face turn red. _Say something else! _"Thanks for picking up my book."

"No problem," he said, and casually strolled out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Vesper said.

"I have no idea," I replied, putting the encounter out of my mind as we walked to Charms.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I still can't believe it!" Cynthia said. "I can't believe I did it!" It was lunchtime, and Cynthia was ecstatic over the fact that she had been able to successfully cast an Aguamenti Charm nonverbally.

"I don't see why you're so surprised," I said. "I mean, Charms is your best subject."

"I know, but still! I really didn't expect to get it this fast," she responded, taking a bite of her salad. Cynthia, to be honest, wasn't one of the smartest people, and it didn't help that her work habits weren't so great, either, but when it came to Charms, she definitely excelled. Lily had been the only one in class today who had been able to complete the nonverbal spell before Cynthia did.

"So," Cynthia began, "what was with Sirius in Potions today?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"You know, picking up your Potions book for you when you fell!"

"Oh," I said. I had completely forgotten about that. "What about it?"

"Come on Amy, how can you NOT know what I'm talking about?" she exclaimed, looking at me exasperatedly. "Sirius Black is like, the best-looking guy in our year, and not only did he TALK to you last night, but he picked up your book, and you don't even care?!"

"I don't know," I said, "I mean, I thought it was nice of him…"

"And then he asked if you were okay!" Cynthia went on, evidently not really paying attention to what I was saying. "This is Sirius Black, Amy! Do you know how many girls would like, have a heart attack if he even smiled at them?" _Including you?_ I thought. "He isn't like all the other hot guys in our grade, he doesn't go around using his good looks so that he can talk to as many girls as he can!" 

"Don't be stupid," I snapped. "He's not trying to flirt with me."

"Not yet, but who knows what might end up happening? You should be excited!"

I sighed, knowing she wasn't going to let this go, and ate a piece of my chicken. I really didn't understand why she was making such a big deal over it. I mean, I understood the fact that he's never really talked to me before now, but so what? It's not that I disliked him or anything, like Vesper did, but I just didn't see why Cynthia thought it was so significant.

After lunch, Cynthia and I went outside to go to Care of Magical Creatures. It was the one class I had with Cynthia that I didn't have with Vesper, who took Arithmancy instead.

"Hey Cynthia, why don't you grow some brain cells?" sneered Ryan Norris, a Ravenclaw boy in our year as we passed him walking out to the grounds. Ryan had gone out with Cynthia last year for a few months, but then he had cheated on her, so she dumped him. Ever since then, he never missed an opportunity to make rude comments to her, the majority of them being some way to call her stupid.

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut?" she retorted, glaring at him as he walked off in the opposite direction towards the castle. Her face was red with embarrassment and frustration. I knew she tried not to let his comments bother her, but she couldn't help it, since she's a highly sensitive person who always worries about how other people think.

"Don't worry about him," I said. "He's an ass. Just forget about it. Karma will screw him over eventually."

She sighed. "I hope so."

As we approached the area where our Care of Magical Creatures lessons took place, we sat down on the grass and waited for Professor Ackman and the rest of the class to arrive. Within the next few minutes, everyone in our class had made their way over to the grounds, and we all waited for the lesson to begin.

"Okay, everyone!" Professor Ackman said, motioning for everyone to gather around and we all walked towards her, listening intently. "Today, we will be studying Demiguises. Now, I'm asking you all to stay very still for the moment, please don't speak or make any movements." She turned around and started talking in a reassuring, soothing tone to what seemed like empty space. Cynthia gave me a look, as if to say _What the hell is she doing?_,and I gave her one back, hoping it would convey the message of _How should I know? I'm sure Ackman will explain it. _Many of the other students raised their eyebrows curiously, it was evident that they were in the same frame of mind as Cynthia. Not that I wasn't confused, but I was more excited to find out what the lesson was going to be about, since Care of Magical Creatures was my favorite subject, and the classes were always interesting and fun.

All of a sudden, someone gasped quietly. A large apelike creature had appeared out of nowhere, covered in silver fur that looked like it was very soft and silky. Turning back to us, Professor Ackman said, "Demiguises are very rare to come across, since they have the ability to turn themselves invisible whenever they feel threatened or afraid. It takes a skilled wizard to be able to track them down and find them, and that's what you guys are going to be doing today. The Demiguise will turn invisible and you will all have to try to find it, using the information you find in your book as well as your own knowledge of tracking abilities. I want you all to get into groups of two or three, and then we'll begin."

There was a flurry of motion as everyone in our class assembled into groups. Since there were only eleven people in our class, it didn't take very long. I stood next to Cynthia, who was in a group with me, and we waited for Professor Ackman to give us further instructions.

"Everyone, come over here, and I want you to close your eyes and I'll count for thirty seconds so that the Demiguise can turn itself invisible and wander around without any of you watching, so none of you will have an advantage. And if any of you open your eyes in an attempt to cheat, I'll notice," she said, looking at all of us sternly. "Okay, eyes closed!" She began counting, and I made sure to keep my eyes closed, despite my curiosity. Professor Ackman was one of my favorite teachers, but she could be pretty strict, so I knew it wouldn't be smart to test out whether or not she was really paying attention.

"Twenty-eight….twenty-nine…thirty. Okay," Professor Ackman said, and I opened my eyes. Looking around me, I saw no signs of the Demiguise. "Now, the Demiguise is peaceful, so you don't have to worry about being attacked. That doesn't mean it'll make it any easier to find, though….and not only do you have to find it, you have to get it to materialize. You can all begin now."

I took out my textbook and flipped through it to the section on Demiguises. "Well, it says that a Demiguise is a herbivore, and that it lives in tropical regions of the far East, so maybe it'll be under the trees," I said to Cynthia. "Should we go look over there?"

She shrugged. "Okay." I could tell she really didn't have much interest in the lesson and was pretty much willing to do whatever I suggested. We walked over to the trees and I tried to stay as quiet as possible, listening closely for any sounds of movement that would reveal the Demiguise's whereabouts.

"Can we just like, walk around and pretend we're looking for the Demiguise?" Cynthia whined.

"No," I said, looking at her sharply. "If we do that and Ackman notices, she'll kill us. Come on, let's just stay quiet and see if we can find it."

"It's not like we're going to find it anyway," she grumbled, but she stayed silent after that as she walked next to me. I felt bad because I knew I'd sounded bitchy, but I didn't want to lose House points or have my grade drop in this class, especially since my marks in this class tended to be pretty high. Also, the lesson we were doing today was pretty easy, compared to some of the other ones we've had.

All of a sudden, I thought I heard a faint rustling sound nearby. I froze.

"What is it?" Cynthia asked.

"Shhh!" I hissed. "Sorry, it's just that I think I hear something," I explained in a soft whisper.

Cynthia rolled her eyes, but said "Where's it coming from?"

"Somewhere to the right of us." I stayed quiet again, and listened carefully, wondering if it was actually the Demiguise I was hearing and not just someone else walking, or even worse, if it was my overactive imagination playing tricks on me. All of a sudden, I heard the rustling sound again. Cynthia and I looked at each other and I knew she'd heard it too.

"I think it's over there," I said, pointing somewhere right below a large oak tree, "but I'm not a hundred percent sure…"

"Well, we won't find out by just standing around," Cynthia said matter-of-factly. "Let's go see."

Slowly and cautiously, we walked over to the area where I predicted the Demiguise to be, when my ears picked up a new sound. I froze. It was the sound of a creature's breathing. "It's here," I whispered to Cynthia, as quietly as I could, hoping I wouldn't scare it away.

"What do we do now?"

"We have to get it to materialize."

"How the bloody hell do you expect to get it to do that?"

"Um…" To be honest, I had no idea. "Talk to it, I guess," I said, thinking about what Professor Ackman did at the beginning of class.

"So…do it," she said indifferently.

Tentatively, I stared at the space where I had heard its breathing. "It's okay," I said in what I hoped was a calm, soothing tone. "We're not going to hurt you. You're safe here. You don't need to hide…" I continued this, part of me wondering if I was making any progress at all. "You don't have to stay invisible, we're not going to do anything to you…"

Just when I was debating whether or not this was worth continuing, the Demiguise materialized right in front of me, with just a few inches of space between us. I hadn't realized how close we were to it.

"Hey," I said, looking up at its large, black eyes that were barely visible beneath its silver fur. "Thanks. I was almost about to give up." It blinked at me as if it understood.

"Should I go tell Ackman that we found it?" asked Cynthia. I nodded, and she ran off.

I reached out my hand slowly toward the Demiguise. When it didn't react, I touched its silky fur and stroked it, and it made a soft, murmuring noise in response.

"Nice job, girls!" Professor Ackman came running up with Cynthia and the rest of the class following her. "So, what did you do in order to find it and get it to materialize?"

"Well," I began, "in the textbook it says that Demiguises live in tropical regions, we figured it'd be under the trees, since in tropical places it's hot and sunny so most animals would probably spend time under the trees in order to try and stay cool." Professor Ackman nodded, as if telling me to continue.

"Then," I went on, "we kept on walking by these trees, until we thought we heard something, so we approached it, and we knew it was there when we heard its breathing. After that, we just talked to it like you did at the beginning of class, hoping we could get it to materialize."

Professor Ackman smiled approvingly. "Well done, girls. Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Professor, I have a question," said Katherine Gabriel, a Ravenclaw girl in our class.

"Yes, Miss Gabriel?"

"What exactly was the point of this lesson?" she said, and a few other students gasped and stared at her in shock, surprised that she had dared to ask such a question. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound rude, but I really don't understand why we did this, since we didn't even need to use magic."

"The _point _of this lesson, Miss Gabriel," Professor Ackman said, looking at her someone sharply, "was to experiment in tracking creatures that are difficult to find, and in tracking, other skills are required besides simply using magic, as these girls have demonstrated." Katherine blushed, evidently embarrassed that she had said anything in the first place.

Professor Ackman led our class back to the open field, where she assigned us our homework, and then let us go, because class was over.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to write an essay about Demiguises!" Cynthia complained as we made our way back up to the castle. "And we have Defense Against the Dark Arts next, I'm sure Lennox'll give us a bunch." She went off on a tangent about the amount of work we have this year and about how hard all her classes were. Although I did somewhat share her feelings, I didn't have the energy to contribute anything to the conversation, since I was still incredibly tired from my lack of sleep last night. She didn't really seem to mind the fact that I was barely responding to her, anyway.

"I don't know how you and Vesper do it," Cynthia rambled on, as we made our way down the corridor to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "You guys each take six classes, and they aren't easy ones, either! I can barely stand it with the four that I take."

"Yeah…" I was barely paying attention to what she was saying at this point, because I was suddenly feeling slightly dizzy, and was more concerned with trying to focus on getting to class. However, while I was trying to pull myself together, I didn't notice the textbook on the floor in front of me, and a split second later, I went flying. I cringed, expecting to crash to the ground, but I never did. It took me a few seconds to realize that someone had caught me and was trying to help me get back up on my feet. In a daze, I held onto him gratefully as I stood up and, fortunately, I wasn't quite as dizzy as before, although I still did feel a little lightheaded. I turned to the student to thank him, and a jolt of surprise rushed through me as I recognized Sirius.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his expression seeming as if he was genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Thanks, though."

"Don't worry about it," he said, then "Hey, this is the second time today you've fallen…are you sure you're all right?" I was surprised by this question, especially since I had already told him I was okay, but at the same time, I made a mental note to inform Vesper about this incident the next time she made a comment about Sirius being arrogant and not caring at all about other people.

"I'm okay, really," I replied. "I'm just kind of tired right now, so I-I'm a little out of it."

He nodded, as if to show he understood. "Yeah, I know the feeling." He paused for a moment, and then said "You really should get to sleep earlier, though."

"Yeah," I said, feeling stupid for saying _Yeah _again, but not really sure how else to respond.

"Anyway, I'll see you around," he said.

"Next class," Cynthia, who had said nothing throughout this whole exchange, suddenly broke in.

He looked at her confusedly. "What?"

"You'll see her in your next class," Cynthia clarified. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts together."

"Oh," he said, his confused expression clearing up. "Yeah, I know."

"Speaking of class," I said, "we should hurry up so we won't be late."

Cynthia nodded in agreement, then turned to Sirius. "Coming?"

He looked at her, somewhat surprised, and then spoke. "Sorry, I promised James I'd wait for him here. I'll see you both later, though…well, next class," he said, grinning.

Cynthia giggled, almost flirtatiously, and I gave him a quick smile before we rushed off to Defense, hoping we'd make it on time. Fortunately, as we reached the classroom, Professor Lennox hadn't arrived yet. We went into the room and sat down at our usual desks.

"Oh my god, Amy," Cynthia squealed excitedly, "Sirius is like, so into you!"

I stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, how can you not see it? This is the second time today he's helped you out when you've fallen…" I blushed at this point, realizing how clumsy and uncoordinated I must have appeared to him, "and he's been so nice to you! I don't see how you can be thick enough not to notice."

"I'm not being thick!" I protested. "I just think you're overreacting. Not that he hasn't been nice and everything, but he hardly knows me. I hardly know him. We hardly know each other." I was aware of the fact that I'd just repeated myself, but I tended to do that when trying to make a point.

"Yeah, well…all I'm saying is, you never know."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't understand why Cynthia was making such a big deal out of all of this. Sirius was just being friendly by helping me out, and it would be stupid to assume he meant anything more by it. Still, though, part of me couldn't help but be excited about the prospect of getting to know him better, and wonder why, after five years of barely interacting at all, we had suddenly spoken so much to each other within just one day.


End file.
